1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to massage chairs, and more particularly to an adjustable, folding massage chair having a pair of adjustably converging support struts; one of the struts supporting a seat, the other supporting an arm, chest an face pads.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Serber, U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,249 describes an ergonomic seating assembly system with front chest support components, pelvic tilt seat component, and related attachments. The invention comprises an ergonomic support system for a person in a seated position comprised of a torso support platform, a seat, and a shin support platform. All are supported by a main frame generally the size of a common chair. Related attachments for face and arm support and pelvic tilt allow alignment of the body and unimpeded movement of the arms and pelvis and a healthy and comfortable position of the spine. It is clear that Server teaches the general principle and advantages of a forward leaning sitting position with chest, face and legs fully supported. However, Serber fails to teach that it is possible to use a combination leg support that is also the structural element joining the seat and chest support struts.
Patterson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,361 describes an elongated base that includes front and rear ends and the rear end includes an elevated seat portion. The forward end of the base includes a standard projecting upwardly to a level above the seat and a rearwardly and upwardly inclined support arm is mounted from the upper end of the standard. The rear upper end of the support arm includes a rearwardly facing chest pad in general vertical registry with and spaced above the forward marginal edge of the seat. The support arm is mounted from the standard for forward and upward swinging of the rear end of the support arm from a lower limit position. The support arm additionally supports a head (forehead) rest supported at an elevation above the chest pad and mounted from the support arm for front to rear adjustment relative to the chest pad. Patterson fails to teach arm and leg rests, seat elevational adjustment, and adaptability for individuals with small as well as large frames.
Riach, U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,078 describes a unitary, portable, foldable and adjustable therapy chair on which a patient is seated. The chair includes a frame having two pivotal members, which move in a scissors-like manner. Attached to the frame are a seat, a chest support, an arm support, a face support and a pair of leg supports. The chair is adjustable from a collapsed position to a plurality of erect position. The frame may be secured in a desired use position. When the chair is adjusted, the seat, the chest support, the arm support and the leg supports move with respect to one another. Riach provides separate masts for seat, chest/arms/head, and leg supports. These are configured primarily for compact folding but do not exhibit the range of adjustability considered necessary for a wide range of body conformations.
Haynes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,590 describes a chair to promulgate kinesthetic therapy that includes a seat frame, a chest rest frame, an arm rest frame and a base. The seat frame and the chest rest frame are moveable independently upwardly and inwardly from the base where they support a seat and chest rest respectively. Both the seat and headrest are adjustable along the same axis via frames. A wide range of adjustability is provided with Haynes, however, the seat and chest masts are not angularly adjustable so as to provide improved adaptability of the Haynes chair to a wider range of body sizes.
The prior art teaches massages chairs as described in the abstracts above. However, the prior art does not teach that a light-weight portable chair structure is able to provide a wide range of body size accommodation through the use of adjustment in the angle of convergence of the seat and the chest masts as well as appropriately coordinated elevational and angular adjustments in the several rest means, i.e., seat, arms, chest, and face. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.